In Pursuit of the Robbers

XXVI
In Pursuit of the Robbers

SOLOMON WAS furious and he commanded his soldiers to set out on the chase.
Arriving in Egypt, Benaiah questioned the border residents.
"Some days ago some strangers passed here," they said.
"They travelled swiftly in wagons like the angels and they were swifter than the eagles of heaven."
"How many days ago was this?" they were asked.
Gathering information, one of Benaiah's aides returned to Jerusalem and told him that his son and his companions had left Egypt almost two weeks before.
Solomon and his contingent of troops went down to Gaza and asked they'd seen the Ark.
"We didn't see anything," they said.

Leaving Gaza, Solomon went deeper into Egypt and met one of Pharoah's ambassadors who told him that he'd seen the Ethiopians in Cairo.
"They were blowing flutes and they travelled on wagons like the host of the heavenly beings. Even our priests knew that the Ark was with them, for our idols were broken into fragments because of its presence."
Then the envoy asked a question, which seared deep into Solomon's soul.
"Why did you give away the Ark, which your fathers kept pure for you? For, according to what we hear, that Ark used to deliver you out of the land of your enemies and you used to be able to talk to your God because of it."

Solomon entered his tent and cried.
"God, I wish you'd taken my life."
He then tried to analyze the reason the Ark was no longer with Israel.
"I know why it's gone," he said to Zadok.
"Why?" said the priest, who slowly was beginning to regain his strength after collapsing in the Temple.
"Because God hates idolatry and seeking the advice of witches and divination and magic and we've been guilty of them as well as drunkeness and false testimony against neighbors. It's because of them that God has taken away the Ark and given it to my son and his descendants."
The tears continually ran down the king's face.
"It must have been the will of God," he sobbed.
"Why are you sad, then?" asked Zadok. "The will of God gave the Ark to your first-born son and he'll rule forever."
Resigning himself to this fate, the king said: "The will of God be done and not the will of man."

The chase was over.
Solomon and his men returned to Jerusalem, a city still in shock.